Kingston Crown Court will gain two extras courts on Monday after a £2.5m scheme to open the extra resources at Wimbledon Magistrates Court is completed.

The unique scheme, to combine a crown and magistrates court on the same site is the result of six months of building work to deal with an increasing number of cases at Kingston.

The new courts at the Wimbledon courthouse, which is based in Alexandra Road, will open on May 12 and deal with serious cases including rape and grievous bodily harm but no murder, manslaughter or terrorism trials will be heard.

Two new secure docks, video-link facilities and upgraded security and CCTV work has been done to ready the courts.

In addition, two judges retiring rooms and a jury assembly and deliberation suite have been added.

Judge Charles Tilling, Resident Judge at Kingston, and one of the first judges to sit in the new Wimbledon crown court, said he wholeheartedly supported the move.

"There is always a certain amount of trepidation when you change your pattern of working," he said.

"But there is a lot of enthusiasm for the move at Kingston and I am confident it will work well and increase the number of cases we can process."

Sean O'Brien, manager of Kingston crown court, said: "We are very excited about the move which will hopefully speed up the justice process and reduce waiting times - I have a passionate belief in keeping the courts busy," he said.

Judges, ushers and court clerks from Kingston will all work on a rota basis to staff the new crown courts which will see two robbery trials commence in its first week.